MicroBJJ Reader Request: 50-50 Guard (PLUS: Fresh New VVV Shirt!)

Succeeding in the 50-50 Guard, a Question from Jason

Alright, so I’ve got a little bit of typing time in between a finishing my emails and running off to Newport to hear my friend and fellow BJJ Philosophy Khalil Habib teach his class on Friedrich Nietzsche.

I got on the phone recently to help with a technical issue for one of my readers / subscribers, Jason – and when pinging back a few emails – he told me that one of the most important areas he wanted to learn more about was how to properly defend his own feet, and at the same time attack aggressively from the 50-50 (not just escape from it, but to use it as a tool).

The video is above, and it’s VERY important that you pay close attention to the details about how “offense is defense” and about the transition from grip break to heel hook – it’s a transition that has to be done like lightening in order to get this submission on a talented grappler. That armpit-tuck has gotta be quick.

VVV Fight Gear – Most Awesome Purple Shirt Contest

Okay, so recently I got a killer purple Veni Vidi Vici shirt online – and they send along some “extras” and stickers and whatnot. I’m a big fan of these guys and IMO this purple shirt rules. Use the code “MicroBJJ” to get 10% off anything at their VVV BJJ Gear Store.

My friend and co-instructor Josh has this crazy Purple shirt with a wolf howling at the moon – and he thinks it’s cooler than my VVV shirt. Your call on this one – but I think the wolf shirt is so 1985!

In addition! Jeff asked me how I got into the statistical analysis of the BJJ game, and how I came to take a more strategic and systematic approach to BJJ in general. Here’s my response:

One important reason is that I was by myself! Most of my competitive BJJ career has been spent training only with white belts and the occasional blue. So, I needed to find mental challenge not just in beating up white belts, but in understanding the game and focusing on how to train SMART – because it’s not easy to train “hard” when your training partners are noobies!

Second, when I went to UPENN for my graduate studies in skill development and Positive Psychology, it became clear to me that applying research approaches to BJJ competition, and applying the SCIENCE of goal setting to BJJ were things that hadn’t really been done before (not seriously). Hence my first few BJJ statistics reports, and the eventual strategies that I built off of them (focusing on the moves that MATTER for my weight class). If you haven’t gotten the research report you can grab it here.

That’s it in a nutshell – and thanks for asking why I’m the nerd I am today, Jeff.

With ALL of that being said, train hard this week and be well, keep it locked for some AWESOME Mendes brothers articles coming up soon!